Disposable Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (d-NPWT) for Small-to-Medium Sized Wounds Including Surgical Wounds, Wound Dehiscence, and Diabetic Foot Ulcerations

Purpose: Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) is a commonly used modality to treat wounds. NPWT helps promote wound healing by decreasing edema, removal of tissue debris and exudate. Traditional NPWT is bulky, loud, and requires a power source. A mechanically powered, disposable, easy to apply, and off-the-shelf NPWT device is available for patients with small-to-medium-sized wounds with mild-to-moderate exudate. This disposable NPWT device (d-NPWT) provides -125mm of Hg pressure, is silent, small, can be worn under clothes, and allows the patient to be fully ambulatory.

Methods: The author presents a 3 patient case series with small-to-medium-sized wounds with mild-to-moderate exudate treated with a d-NPWT device to demonstrate ease of application along with improved healing. Wounds in this case series included surgical wounds, wound dehiscence, and diabetic foot ulceration. The patients included in this case series had multiple co-morbidities including diabetes, peripheral vascular disease, CAD, HTN, peripheral neuropathy, and osteomyelitis. Oxidized regenerated cellulose/collagen/silver-ORC dressings were used on all wounds once the d-NPWT was discontinued.  Results: All 3 cases went on to full closure demonstrating that the use of a d-NPWT device can improve the healing of small-to-medium-sized wounds with mild-to-moderate exudate.

Conclusion: The d-NPWT device provided notable outcomes by reducing exudate, tissue debris, and promoting granulation tissue. The mechanical d-NPWT allows patients to be ambulatory and without the need for a power source. Disposable NPWT is an excellent option for patients with small-to-medium-sized wounds requiring negative pressure to aid in wound healing.